That's So Wizard

Chapter 68 - Superstition Ain't the Way

"I had a feeling this would happen, but I've been too stubborn," Old Yaga muttered and sighed. She lifted up a glass vial filled with a lime green fluid, and as she stirred it in her grip, it bubbled and steamed. There was certainly something special about her concoction.

"We have to convince them somehow," Kevin said. "If you really want to help them, you don't deserve to get burned like some kind of monster! Maybe they'll listen to us."

A pounding echoed out from the door. From outside came a voice they believed to be the woman from earlier—the same snappy attitude. Behind her words were murmurs from others. They couldn't understand what they said, both from distance and a barrier of language, but they assumed the worst.

"Come out, Witch. We have lived with your black magic for long enough!" the woman shouted.

It was Kevin that answered the door. He pushed it open, and made his way out, while Deena followed behind him. He saw faces not of anger from the villagers, but of fear, and concern. The woman leading them stepped back but continued a judgemental glare towards the ginger samurai.

"What proof do you have that this woman is hexing you? Hasn't she told you? She's trying to find a cure for the sickness that plagues this place," Kevin stated.

"And what proof do you have that she is not lying?" the woman replied back. "The very soil beneath her hut is salted by her dark powers. The animals dare not tread here. Hunting has grown more difficult."

"That is the sickness, dear," spoke the witch as she stepped out from her door.

"There she is!" shouted someone in the crowd, and they began to speak with one another in a wave of mumbles.

"A mysterious illness came upon this place," she continued. "I came to fix it. That is your correlation. You have your cause and effect confused."

"She lies," the woman said. "Her words are poison."

Kevin grew tired of their argument. His breathing quickened, and suddenly, he took a deep inhale through his nostrils to muster up a moment of bravery. He reached out, and he quickly snatched the vial that contained the antidote. With a twist and pull of the cork, he released a plume of mist into the air. It smelled like asparagus.

The crowd gasped. "Don't breath it in!" someone shouted.

"This is the cure she's been working on. It's harmless," Kevin said, unsure of his own words.

"This is suicide," the woman said as she approached him. "Do not drink that toxin."

He stared intently at the vial. His legs trembled with fear. Kevin looked to Deena and old woman behind her, and then back to the crowd with a glare of determination. With one swig, he downed the green substance, and unleashed a deep sigh afterwards.

"Seems fine to me," he finally said.

"This proves nothing!"

Old Yaga stepped forwards. "There is a dark corruption here. You are not wrong, dear. And I know much of darkness. This is why I am the expert you require to cleanse this place. Without my cure, animals won't come here ever again. Plants will die. Soon, all of you."

The man they met when they first arrived lowered his torch to the dirt. He walked towards them, looked to his angry companion, but ultimately surrendered. "I have to believe."

"What?" the woman replied.

"My mother. She is sick. If the Witch can help, then I must listen. Do you have more?"

Old Yaga smiled. "I do, dear. Much more. Your village will be saved, if you only listen." She turned to Kevin. "Thank you."

"It was nothing," Kevin replied. "I knew you were a nice lady. You knew too, right, Deena?"